Following a month long voting process, the 2018 World Games Athlete of the Year award has been announced and we are pleased to report that out of athletes nominated across 25 different sports, the prestigious award went to two talented acrobatic gymnasts from Russia – Marina Chernova and Georgii Pataraia.
The international federations of each sport propose their nominees based on extraordinary achievements. Last year, the award went to an athlete in Sport Climbing with 90,790 votes and the year prior, it was won by a powerlifter with 90,036.
This year, the acro mixed pair won with 159,348 votes.
These extraordinary athletes won the 2018 World Championships, and before that, the World Games in 2017, the 2017 European Championships, the 2016 Worlds and the 2015 European Games.
Congratulations to the athletes. Their victory is not only an incredible individual accomplishment but it also helps to raise the profile of the discipline of acrobatic gymnastics internationally.